Penn State football recruiting: Lions secure pledge from fast-rising OL Garrett Sexton

It was during the final minutes of a varsity basketball game when Matt Harris’ idea started to take shape.

As the Arrowhead (Wis.) High School football coach watched Garrett Sexton on the basketball court, Harris knew that asking a 195-pound sophomore to switch from quarterback to left tackle was every bit as unusual as it sounds. But with a pressing need at left tackle — and with an athlete who was approaching 6-foot-7 — Harris broached the subject.

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“I saw this recklessness about him, just this toughness,” Harris said. “In my mind, I was like, ‘Well, I’ve played with lighter offensive linemen.’ Between myself and a couple other coaches, we just believed that it could work. After a couple days of seeing him do some drills, and then Day 1 of camp, it kind of all came to fruition. By the time football started he was like 220. Then, he was 230 during the season. He was 252 pounds on Friday.”

On Monday, Sexton, a four-star offensive tackle who ranks No. 367 nationally in the 247Sports Composite, committed to Penn State. He’s the second offensive lineman from Wisconsin to do so, joining Donovan Harbour, the state’s top-ranked player. Harbour’s Catholic Memorial High School, in Waukesha, is 13 miles from Arrowhead, and the schools even hold joint practices for a few days in the summer.

COMMITTED! @coachjfranklin @CoachTrautFB @CoachHarris28 @CoachLinares @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/QirwvfYxyA

— Garrett Sexton (@garrettsextonwi) April 24, 2023

Sexton emerged as one of the fastest-rising offensive line prospects in the 2024 cycle during his first season playing left tackle. This winter as college recruiters made their way to Arrowhead and asked to meet with the team’s 2024 offensive tackle, Harris had to ask them which one. A few coaches gave him puzzled looks.

Arrowhead right tackle Derek Jensen is a well-known prospect whose first scholarship offer came in 2021 from Illinois. Jensen, who verbally committed to Wisconsin in April, grew up with Sexton as his quarterback.

“No one really knew (Garrett) until recently,” Harris said. “I think a lot of people didn’t realize that we have two (Division I tackles). I think it was confusing for them because he was new to the scene.”

Sexton didn’t receive any D-I scholarship offers until Jan. 14, when Iowa State offered on the spot after watching his basketball game. Purdue, Tennessee, Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Northwestern, Rutgers and Baylor all followed in the ensuing months. In March, Penn State, Oklahoma and Stanford did the same.

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Sexton visited State College in late March and announced Penn State, Oklahoma, Iowa and Minnesota as his finalists on April 6. Wisconsin offered on April 21, right before Sexton left to visit Oklahoma. That offer from the in-state Badgers could’ve complicated things, but Sexton’s mind was already set on Penn State, so much so that he disregarded his planned May 1 commitment date and called the Nittany Lions coaches Sunday night to deliver the news.

“He had to compound probably a year and a half of recruiting into about five months,” Harris said. “I think he knew after he left Penn State that that was the fit for him. … He’s a really smart kid, a really analytical kid and he had analyzed every place he had been and he was done.”

Connecting points

Penn State tight ends coach Ty Howle recruited Wisconsin when he worked at Western Illinois. It was there that Howle connected with Harris and several other Wisconsin high school coaches. While offensive line coach Phil Trautwein is expected to be at Arrowhead on Tuesday and undoubtedly played a big role in Penn State prioritizing and landing Sexton, Howle’s familiarity with these high school staffs is paying off.

“He’s very in tune to everything that’s going on. I would give him a lot of credit for opening doors for Penn State,” Harris said of Howle. “It was nice on Sunday night for me to be like, ‘Finally, I got you one!’”

Rounding out the class

Penn State’s 2024 class has verbal commitments from 11 players, including four offensive linemen. With Harbour, Cooper Cousins and Caleb Brewer likely slotting in along the interior, Sexton gives the Nittany Lions an athletic tackle to develop. And develop is the key word — he lacks experience at the position, but his combination of size and athleticism is very enticing.

Last fall, I asked Trautwein about what traits he’s looking for when recruiting tackles. He said they don’t need to be 6-7 but that their athleticism is critical.

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“Tackles are tough because either they’re too small like I was when I came out of high school at 260 pounds or they’re too big and they’re still working on the speed of the game and the speed kind of gets them,” Trautwein said. “You have to be able to move your feet. Being able to find those guys is tough and they come in all shapes and sizes, but picking the right ones and the ones that want to be great is going to be key to the future at that position.”

What about Wisconsin?

James Franklin’s work in Wisconsin may not be done yet. Catholic Memorial running back Corey Smith will announce his college choice Friday afternoon. Penn State is considered the strong favorite for the nation’s No. 212 overall prospect.

In the coming years, we’re going to find out if Penn State’s evaluations on these players in Wisconsin’s backyard was correct — or if the Badgers maybe saw something that they didn’t want to go all-in on. We’re also going to see if Penn State landing commitments from Wisconsin is a one-off or a trend. Tight end Jerry Cross is the only scholarship player currently on the roster from Wisconsin.

Jensen, Arrowhead’s 6-7, 330-pound right tackle, was a priority recruit for the Badgers and they secured his verbal pledge. They didn’t offer Sexton until last week, long after his finalists were announced. Even with a high ceiling, Sexton will need time to physically fill out. Whether or not he’ll enroll early remains to be seen.

Maybe a year or two down the road, Wisconsin’s staff — which is in its first season — will be clued in on prospects such as Sexton. But for now, Penn State is banking on its own evaluations.

(Photo courtesy of Arrowhead High School)

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